In the Winter, we fall
by ImperfectSnow
Summary: Sakura and Itachi are more connected than most people know. Trying to decipher her own feelings towards the Uchiha is hard... Trying to decipher his towards her, is even harder...
1. In the Winter, we fall

ItaSaku

Sakura found herself in the strangest situation. Well, it wasn't strange per se… it was just that she had never thought that she would find herself standing in between one, Uchiha Sasuke and one, Uchiha Itachi.

To be more precise about her predicament, Haruno Sakura, age 19, was standing in a field 27.5 Kilometers from the gates of Konoha in a Snow ridden clearing, wearing her ninja gear and an Akatsuki cloak belonging to one, Uchiha Itachi. Isn't that strange?

To be a little more precise about her predicament, Haruno Sakura, age 19, was standing in a snow ridden field waiting to choose one Uchiha over another. How on Earth did that happen?

Let's go back, to a time where the flowers were in full bloom in Konoha and the Sakura blossoms blew in the wind…

**Spring **

Sakura walked down the streets of Konoha with a bag of groceries in one hand and a bouquet of lilies in the other. She made her way down the street and received a few appreciative grins and glances from a few of the town shinobi men and even a few of the random civilians. By this age Sakura was catching the attention of many male shinobi. The reasons for this was because her body had finally filled out and people were noticing, Sakura always resented the fact that her body hadn't become luscious and filled out like Ino's at the age of 16. She had to wait 3 more years for her body to catch up. Ino, however, had ragged on her for all of those 3 years about her lacking in the chest areas as well as her small hips and straight waist. The time was here for payback.

Sakura dropped off her groceries at her small apartment before making her way to the hospital. She wanted to take the lilies to Kakashi before starting her shift. He had recently returned from a mission with a serious gash on his torso, as well as being severely worn out from over using his Sharingan. She thought she might scald him a bit about overworking…maybe.

Upon arriving at Kakashi's hospital room she knocked lightly and then slipped in. His blinds were still drawn and he appeared to be sleeping, but Sakura knew better. She put the lilies into the vase beside his bed and then pulled the chord to open lift the blinds, as she did the sunlight from outside filtered the room and Sakura basked in the feeling of warmth, Kakashi, however, wasn't as happy about the intrusion of the sunlight as she was. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head and turned away from the window. Sakura giggled and then opened the window as wide as it would go.

Kakashi poked his head out from under the covers and gracefully told her to 'Get lost' which she duly ignored. He didn't seem to be in a very good mood this morning, but she was going to change that. The reason for his bad mood most certainly had something to do with his lack of "Reading material". She knew her sensei all too well and so she took two small orange books from her kunai pouch. The way her sensei's face lit up at the sight of those books, she could have sworn he was a four year old child receiving a sweet. Although, she supposed, in a way he was receiving something of equal importance…

Now that his mood had lightened and he was gripping the books like it depended on his life, she took a seat next to his bed and waited for him to be serious again. "Kakashi-sensei" she prompted him to focus. "Hn" was the only response she got as he started thumbing through the books "Hatake Kakashi, if you don't put those books down and focus, I will make sure that you are incapacitated for much, much longer than 2 weeks" Sakura's threat seemed to get through to him as he promptly placed the books on his side table. "Yes, what would you like to discuss, Sakura-sama" he said with mock politeness, his tone only earned him a painful stab in the side with her strong fingers. Wincing, he looked at her again while rubbing his side and finally resumed his 'real' serious face "Yes… I know" and he nodded gravely. "What are we going to do about Him?" Sakura's voice was laced with concern and urgency, "I don't know, but I know that we have to make sure He doesn't find out about them or get anywhere near that area." He turned to Sakura and his face was very serious as the morning light hit him "That's all we can do…unfortunately" Sakura nodded and then smiled politely as she got up and fixed Kakashi's bedding "Get better soon Sensei, we'll talk again later, I'm off to work my shift". Kakashi's nose was already in one of the books she brought him by the time she was finished with his bedding, Sakura just sighed and left quietly.

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"The matter has gotten worse, they're getting closer to the border, and what are we going to do about Him?" Shizune's urgent voice sounded as she paced in front of Tsunade's desk in Hokage tower. "Shizune!" Tsunade's strict voice stopped her assistant in her pacing tracks "Yes!" Shizune was now directly in front of the Hokage's desk, "Stop wearing a line into my floor! As for the matter, we will call a meeting and inform Him of the situation; He will be contained in the village and will not be allowed to leave with any of the teams. I will create new teams to sort out the threats." Tsunade massaged her temples to try and avoid the oncoming headache. "Is that understood? Call a meeting and call the following members…"

It was 2:00pm and there was a meeting in the Hokage's office. The following Jounins were present, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Neji and Tenten. "Alright, before I debrief you on your missions, I'm going to tell you your Team allocations, right, Team 1 will consist of Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru. Team 2 will consist of Neji, Kiba, Ino and Tenten." Tsunade finished reading off the first 2 teams and looked up from her scroll. "Are the Teams understood?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow to see if any objections occurred. Sakura started to speak "Tsunade-shishou what abo-" Tsunade cut her off before she could finish "I have a special mission for you, Sakura" Sakura looked slightly shocked but nodded and stepped back. Tsunade then looked at Sasuke who looked completely disinterested "Uchiha, you better start looking a little more interested in the situation before you get on my nerves!" Sasuke then made an attempt to plaster a look of interest on his face. Tsunade nodded and then proceeded to speak to the Uchiha "Furthermore, you will be taken into ANBU custody until the following Team's missions are over." Sasuke's face became angry and he struggled to regain composure "Why, Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke somehow managed to keep his rage out of his voice; instead he bunched his fists into his pockets. "The situation is as follows, Akatsuki is on the border of the Fire Country, and as you all know, their strength is devastating. It is thought that they have a hide-out somewhere inside the border of the Fire Country and are moving towards it. The reason you, Uchiha Sasuke, are being taken into custody for the time being is because Uchiha Itachi – presumed dead- may be amongst them, and we are protecting you against him, as well as trying to avoid any unnecessary conflict. Is that understood?" Sasuke's shocked expression was stuck on his face as Tsunade's report sunk in. "Sasuke, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside while I report the entire mission to these teams. Shizune will escort you to the ANBU facility that you will be vacating." Tsunade gave Sasuke a look that told him to get moving. Sasuke managed to move his body into action and stepped out of the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade-sama! We need Sasuke; he's a part of our team!" Naruto's whining penetrated Tsunade's head and the dull throbbing of her headache became more prominent. "Naruto, shut it!" was Tsunade's only response. Naruto immediately shut his mouth but still thought of things he could say to the old bag. "Alright, the plan is for Team 1 to run the entire border for traces on Akatsuki movement and then report back via communication hawk. Keep tabs at all the check stations and go to all the guard houses. If you encounter any Akatsuki, try to avoid a fight, but if that is impossible you have to kill or immobilize the attacker, do not by any means let them escape." Tsunade took a breath and the handed a scroll to Shikamaru "Nara Shikamaru is team captain. Alright get ready and then regroup at the gates, you leave in half an hour!" Immediately Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata dispersed leaving the room with Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Ino and Tenten vacating it. "As for Team 2, you will head straight to the centre point, across the rogue country, you will collect information about all the members of Akatsuki from the neighbouring countries, Neji is your Team Captain." She handed two scrolls to Neji "The second scroll is for the Kazekage when you reach the Sand Country. Give it to him; he'll know what to do. Right! Get ready and regroup at the gates, you leave in half an hour."

Sakura was very anxious to know why she hadn't been placed in a team, and why she was getting a "special mission". She hadn't been on many solo missions, but from the ones that she had been on, they weren't too bad, except for the fact that she had no one to talk to while traveling, and couldn't convey her ideas to a team mate. She waited in front of Tsunade's desk as the Hokage sorted through papers, presumably for her. Finally the Hokage looked up and handed her a sheet of paper. Sakura scanned the document and her eyes grew wide from the information she read.

"How can this be? You said that he was dead! You told Sasuke that he was dead! I know his death was only an assumption because we couldn't find a body, but it had to be true, it just had to be true! I can't believe this, I can't handle that again Shishou, and I can't handle it again!" Sakura fell into the chair opposite Tsunade's desk and stared at her Shishou, hoping for an answer that made sense. "Sakura, I know that you are more involved personally in this subject than most of the shinobi, but I and the council feel that you are the only Jounin qualified and stable enough to handle this situation, especially this situation. I know that you can handle it." Tsunade gave Sakura a reassuring glance and then handed a scroll. Inside this scroll was a list of what Sakura would need and a debriefing on what she had to do. That was the hardest part. "I assume you understand your goal, Sakura." Tsunade gave her a stern look "Yes, ma'am" with that Sakura stood up from her seat and made for the door "Sakura, you leave in 45 minutes, good luck" She gave her a somnolent smile and left the office.

Sakura made her way to the hospital in a very fast run after packing her backpack. She needed to talk to Kakashi before she left. When she arrived at his room she burst inside, Kakashi was sitting at the window wearing his Jounin pants and a solemn smile "I heard about your mission" he said sadly, Sakura was catching her breath from running to the hospital "oh…yes…what must…I do…Kakashi-Sensei" she said between breaths. Kakashi looked out the window for a moment and then got up from his chair and walked over to Sakura, who had regained her breath and had started to cry silently "You must make the decision that many Shinobi have been forced to make" he took her by her shoulders and pulled her into his arms in a friendly embrace, Sakura was too broken to question him so she brought her arms around his waist and cried into his bandaged chest. Kakashi bent his head and kissed her on the top of her head "I'm so scared" she whispered into his chest "I know you are, but don't forget that I'm here, waiting for you and supporting you no matter what you do, ok?" Sakura squeezed him tightly and then looked up with tear glistening eye "Thank you…" he smiled down at her and then put her at arms length and fixed up her hair and cleaned the tears from her eyes "you go now and make me proud" he smile at her and gave her a friendly goodbye kiss on her forehead. She smiled a sad smile and gave him one last hug before turning around and leaving. Kakashi sighed, he knew that this mission was going to one of the hardest his young student would have to face, and he wished he could protect her from it. He knew that that may have been the last time that he would ever speak to Haruno Sakura ever again…

Sakura was standing at the Konoha gates with her backpack, there were no people there to say goodbye to her, there were no friends to hug her and tell her to come back safe, and she was glad, because she didn't want her friends to see the tears slipping down her cheeks, and she didn't want to have to make her goodbyes final. Slowly she stepped through the gates and turned around to say goodbye to the Konoha she knew and loved. Just as she burned the sight and sound of Konoha into her mind a warm spring breeze blew across the entire village and with it was a stream of Cherry blossoms. Not many knew, but that was the final goodbye and the final blooming of the Sakura blossoms in Konoha.

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Team 1 had been racing through the forest for 2 hours now at high speed. Naruto's stamina was high as usual and he raced ahead of Hinata and Shikamaru. "Naruto, let's stop for the night, we need to discuss our plan and tactics." Shikamaru shouted to Naruto "Alright! There's a clearing coming up ahead, we'll stop there" Naruto slowed down a bit and then jump down through the trees before landing with a soft thud. "Hinata, you set out the mats and start a fire, Naruto you go fetch some food for us to eat and I'll start devising a plan" Shikamaru took his mat out from his backpack and placed himself on it. "Wait! That's all you're going to do? Me and Hinata are getting everything ready while you sit on your lazy ass and _think_?" Shikamaru stared at Naruto as if he just crawled out from under a rock. "Well?" Naruto prodded "Well what?" Shikamaru, as smart as he was, couldn't see Naruto's logic. "Well, that's not entirely _fair!_ Hinata, don't you agree?" Hinata turned from placing Naruto's bed mat to see that Shikamaru and Naruto were both looking at her, Naruto was tapping his foot waiting for an answer; Shikamaru looked too bored to care, but stared at her anyway "We-well… Shikamaru _is_ very smart; s-so I think that if he can come up with a good p-plan for us, then we might do well on this mission…" Hinata stepped back and looked at Naruto meekly before stumbling on a rock and landing on Naruto's mat with a thud, Naruto and Shikamaru stared at her and after a few moments burst into fits of laughter. "That was hilarious!" Naruto chimed as he leaned against a tree for leverage "Hinata you should be more careful with where you walk!" Shikamaru added in with a tone of amusement. Hinata's face was a deep crimson as she watched the two boys giggling at her faulty foot work. Her eyes started to well up with tears; she was too embarrassed to find anything funny. "Oh, Hinata, don't cry…I'm sorry, but you have to admit, that was pretty funny" Naruto tried to soothe her as he moved closer to her and sat down on the mat too. Her eyes widened as he hugged her with one arm and appeased her. She was flush against his side; she had never been that close to him. "But, Hinata you really need to be a little less sensitive, next time something like this happens; promise to laugh with us instead of crying, ok?" Naruto squeezed her shoulder and then got up off the mat. "Well, I'm starved; I'm going to get us some dinner." Shikamaru just shrugged and took up his customary "thinking" position. Hinata still tingled from Naruto's touch and dried her tears. It _was_ quite funny.

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Team 2 was already settled into a small camp and Kiba was cooking some fish from a nearby stream for the group. Ino and Tenten were sitting on one of the mats talking about recent happenings in the village. _Gossip. _Neji was nowhere to be seen. Finally, the food was done and Kiba grabbed two sticks with roasted fish on them and began eating, of course, Akamaru got one of those fish sticks. The two kunoichi also grabbed a stick each and began nibbling while the continued their conversation. Neji appeared out of a bunch of trees with his shirt tied around his waist and his hair dripping with water, his juin was still covered with a small headband. Ino and Tenten looked up from their conversation and Ino gaped at the sight before her, Tenten slapped her lightly on the arm "would you stop ogling, he's my friend and you're making me uncomfortable." Ino took almost no heed of Tenten scalding and proceeded to ogle "Hey, who are you and what'd you do with Neji?" she flashed a grin at him and he narrowed his eyes a bit before sitting down on his mat opposite Ino, on the _other_ side of the fire. Ino cackled a little bit and then turned to Tenten to continue their conversation. Kiba, who felt slightly rejected because of Ino comment about Neji, so he stood up and took his shirt off, thus flexing his muscles, Ino and Tenten laughed and held onto each other to compose themselves "What? Never seen a _real man_ before?" Kiba prodded while still flexing his muscles. Ino through a small log at him before giggling again "Kiba, shut up and sit down" Kiba, feeling slightly wounded sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. Ino could have sworn she saw his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. She giggled again and turned to Tenten. Men are so childish.

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Sakura was still walking down the forest path, truth be told, she didn't want to rush; she just wanted to experience the forest. It was already around 8:30pm and she thought she should stop to set up camp and eat dinner, but she wasn't tired and she wasn't hungry. By this time she had taken off her Jounin jacket and long pants, because the spring air was warm and she wanted to feel it on her skin. She was left in her sleeveless black Jounin vest and a pair of black shorts that she wore underneath her Jounin pants. Her weapons pouches were still strapped to her legs and she kept a kunai strapped to her stomach in her bandages.

After about fifteen minutes she found a clearing where she started to set up camp. She skipped making a fire and instead set up her bed mat. She sat down with a peach in her hand that she had taken out of her backpack and a flashlight, reaching for her bag, she took out her mission scroll and the piece of paper Tsunade gave her. Pointing the torch at the parchments she started to read through them again, this time taking in every detail of her mission and formulating a plan in her head. This wasn't going to be easy, especially on her emotions.

Finally, Sakura had formulated a plan and turned off the torch, thrown away the half eaten peach and crawled onto her mat. When she went on solo missions, she hardly slept because she needed to keep an eye and ear out for any approaching threats. Usually when she went on missions with Team 7 Kakashi would be their main look out so that the rest of them could get some sleep. Now, however, she was fully awake and vigilant. It was going to be a long night.

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Kakashi was exhausted, he hadn't been able to get any rest because he was worried about Sakura, it wasn't like him to worry to the point of not sleeping, and he was so worried that he didn't even read the two books Sakura had brought him. Tsunade had come in earlier to do a check up on him and he had asked if she had heard anything from Sakura or any of the other teams. Tsunade just shook her head and asked him to lie down for the check up. He didn't know what to do with himself. A thought occurred to him just then, and he decided that he was going to carry that thought out and make it an action…

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Sakura had awoken the next morning with a start; she hadn't expected to fall asleep while she was supposed to be focused. Taking a look around the area for any potential threats, sensing none, she fixed up her appearance and then packed her stuff, heading back onto the trail. This time she was going to race through the trees to her destination. The only reason she was chosen for this mission was because of her connection to the subject, the fact that she could sense an Uchiha within a four mile radius also helped. Her mission was going to hurt her, in ways that she never wanted to be hurt again.

Over the years, her relationship with the youngest of the Uchiha brothers had become that of a very strong friendship, the type of friendship that people form over years and years of companionship and hard work. Even if they lost touch for a while they would come back to each other somehow and continue their relationship, it was just the way it went.

Naruto was a different story, he was as close as she had to a best friend, although she never really got close enough with anybody to really have a _best friend, _she loved Naruto and Sasuke, as friends, but somehow after what happened, she never got close to anybody, except maybe Kakashi, but that was just because he somehow had an immunity to her problem. He also forced himself into her life until she had no choice but to give up and let him in.

Of course she had lots of friends, you know, the type of friends that you got together with at a pub and drank and danced and the occasional "accidental" one night stand with a few of them –Kiba, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Genma…- but in the end, it only brought the group closer. Even Gaara would join in a few of their little parties, sometimes even getting cozy with Ino, although he would never admit it. All in all, they had good time. And she would miss that, more than they would know.

Sakura was reminiscing about the past, all the times she had drunk herself into a stupor and had to be carried home by one of the still sober males, either Sasuke or Neji, usually. The times she would get hurt at training and Kakashi would carry her to the hospital even though she could walk. When she lost 'it' to Kiba in the storeroom of the Hokage tower after a particularly hard mission. Laughing about it afterwards. Trying to play Shouji with Shikamaru and ending up rolling around in his room instead. Laughing about that too. Kankuro showing her his "puppets" after a long night of drinking. Kissing him goodbye as he left for Suna. Staying friends even after that. Partying with Kakashi and his friends, Genma, Iruka, Gai and the rest of the older Jounin. Being taught some "new moves for missions" by Genma. Laughing about it and being ribbed for it every time she met with the group after that. Enjoying life, with her friends. And most of all, enjoying her friends.

Sakura had had a good life, hell, even a great life, full of aches and pains, love and friends. Laughing and crying, then laughing about crying. Sometimes even laughing while crying! She wouldn't trade the life she'd had for any other life. She'd already gotten everything she wanted, and more. Even though she had found her perfect person and had him taken away from her, and then gone to get him back, only to find that he wasn't the person she thought he was. She'd been through many shocks, some bigger than others. Some good, some…not so good. At the end of the day, if she had to die, she regretted _nothing._

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Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru had been traveling for four hours now and the effects were beginning to wear on Hinata. "Shikamaru…please, can we…stop…for a bit…" she pleaded between pants. Shikamaru nodded and raced forward to be parallel with Naruto "Hey Naruto, can we stop a bit Hinata is tired and I'm a bit tired myself. In any case, it's time for lunch" Naruto thought about it for a moment and then descended to the lower levels of the forest. All three of the sat in a cozy circle eating a few snacks that Hinata was carrying.

All of a sudden Hinata was backing up and shacking frantically, Naruto immediately got up and walked towards her "Hinata, what's the matter?" Hinata only pushed herself further away from the two men and started screaming while looking around frantically. Shikamaru walked up to Hinata's discarded fruit and examined it closely, then took something out of his bag. Naruto was still trying to advance on Hinata but she was screaming and kicking at the ground for him to stay way from her. Naruto stopped walking "Get away from me!" Hinata screamed "Help! Somebody help me!" Hinata's screams turned into fits of crying and fear broke into her voice "Naruto! Naruto! Help me! Where are you? Naruto!" Hinata desperate plea for Naruto shocked him. So he jumped up and landed behind Hinata, dragging her backwards so that he was leaning against the tree with her in front of him. "Let go! Help! Please! Don't hurt me!" Hinata screamed and then activated Byakugan to try and fight off her attacker. Naruto pulled his arms around her and sank down the tree so that they were sitting and Hinata was in his lap. He had wrapped his arms around her and was restraining her hands so that she couldn't attack him at his Chakra channels. Her pleas turned into sobs of despair as Naruto tried to calm her. Eventually he had his mouth by her ear and was whispering soothing words so that she would realize that it was him and not any attacker. "Naruto…help me…" Hinata mumbled these words over and over.

Finally Shikamaru spoke from his position on the other side of the clearing; he was leaning in a sitting position against a tree with his "thinking" position in tact. "It's food poisoning. I don't know when it happened but it had an instantaneous effect, we should be careful from now on with what we eat. I don't think it will harm her body in any way, but it had the same affect as Genjutsu on her mind. She's seemed to have calmed down though. I think that the best thing to do is go get her washed off in the stream for any poison on her physical body and then get her into a bed to sleep off its affects. It's troublesome, but we've wasted a lot of time here, it would be a waste to travel at night with her so disoriented. It also would help to have our 'Eyes' out of action." Shikamaru stood up and walked over to Naruto with the trembling Hinata in his grip. Shikamaru leaned down to pick her up, but she only started to tremble more. "You better do it, Naruto. Take her to the stream and get her cleaned off, remember to wash her hair for any traces. Now, go!" Naruto released his grips and then put one arm under Hinata's legs and the other under back and lifted her off the ground. Hinata curled into his shoulder.

At the stream Naruto peeled off Hinata clothes and put her into the water then he took off his shirt and shoes and climbed in with her. Holding Hinata's fragile and trembling form he began to wipe her skin clean of any traces of dirt that might have poison. The whole ordeal of having Hinata quivering in his arms and asking him to help her, made Naruto feel very protective of her, she was so weak and fragile in the time that he held her, all he wanted to do now was help her in any way he could. Even though she was naked and he was washing her, he felt no perversities towards her naked form. She was very attractive, but right now, she was delicate.

Once he had cleaned Hinata as well as he could in the water, he dried her with his jacket and dressed her again. Her hair was wet so he tried to dry it as best he could so she wouldn't get sick. He then carried her back to the clearing where Shikamaru had started a fire and prepared Hinata's bed mat. Naruto placed her on the mat and covered her with her thin blanket. He then smoothed her hair down and sat next to her as he watched her eyes droop and finally slip closed. When he was certain that she was asleep he tightened the covers and moved over to Shikamaru's mat where he was looking through a few notes. "What does the situation look like?" Naruto asked with concern and a slight touch of anger tainting his tone. "I suspect that maybe a spy for Akatsuki, someone they are paying, likely goes through this area to make sure that any teams following them are slowed down before he can report the amount of teams that are after them, but that's just theory. The poison was very miniscule but still incredibly strong, I took a sample to give to the lab, and I'll send it off by hawk in the morning to get some results."

Shikamaru's brow creased as he thought of something else "what is it?" Naruto asked "It's just that, she seems almost in the state of mind of a child, I hope the effects wear off by morning, this could have terrible possession on her mind, and that's not good. But then again, she is a Hyuuga, and they are very strong in working against mind tricks, even if it is a mind trick in the form of a poison." Naruto nodded and the looked over at Hinata, suddenly he got up and dragged his mat over next to her and lay down facing her. He wanted to be next to her and protect her against anything else. He never wanted to see her break down and be so volatile again. Naruto got under his covers and signaled to Shikamaru a 'Goodnight' then watched Hinata as she slept, not planning to actually 'sleep' himself.

By morning, Naruto was sitting leaning back against a tree with Hinata's head in his lap and unconsciously stroking her hair. During the night, the Hyuuga had awoken in fits of shivers and moaning, obviously having a nightmare of some sort, and Naruto had comforted her by sitting in his current position and talking her back to sleep while stroking her hair. Hinata had only awoken a few more times after that, but was lulled to sleep in a matter of minutes. Shikamaru was up and getting ready by 6:00am, at 6:30 he had sent the hawk to Konoha with the poison sample and Naruto had woken Hinata up and helped her have a bit of breakfast, observably checking the food first. By 7:30 Naruto and Shikamaru were ready and Hinata was still sitting timidly by a tree. The blonde walked up to her and then kneeled to talk to her "Hinata, we need to get going now, I'm going to put you on my back so that we can go, ok?" Hinata only nodded her head slightly as Naruto lifted her gently and put her onto his back. Shikamaru carried all three of their packs and walked in front of them. They would have to walk the trail for the moment until they could get to the nearest village and get Hinata to a hospital to be examined by a medic.

"Na-Naruto?" Hinata meek voice sounded next to Naruto's ear "Yes, Hinata?" Naruto asked gently "Why am I on y-your back?" Hinata asked a little dumbfounded "Because we need to get you to a hospital" the Kyuubi container responded kindly. "Why? What's wrong with me?" the white eyed Hyuuga's voice started to gain a tone of emergence "Shikamaru, I think she's back" Naruto spoke to Shikamaru "She wants to know why we're taking her to a hospital" Shikamaru stopped walking and turned around, Naruto walked up to him and Shikamaru spoke over his shoulder to Hinata "Hinata, yesterday afternoon you were poisoned, Naruto stopped you from hurting yourself and washed all the toxins off you in the river, you've been asleep all night and now we need to take you to a medic to see if you're alright"

Shikamaru put the back of his hand on her forehead to feel if she had a fever, at the indication that she was at a normal temperature, he nodded and then said "Alright Naruto, put her down by that tree, let's giver some food and then we'll see if she can function properly" Naruto did as he was instructed ad placed her softly on the ground, then he put his own hand on her forehead to feel for himself if she was indeed at a normal temperature. Hinata, being Hinata, blushed profusely. "Na-Naruto, I-I'm fine, I just have a slight headache, that's all" Naruto looked into her white eyes and she into his deep blue orbs and then he nodded and stroked her hair. She blushed even deeper. Naruto then stood up and Shikamaru bent down in front pf her, he then asked a few questions about how she was feeling, a few more questions about basic ninja tactics and skills, weaponry etc. "Well, it seems like she's fine, but we should watch her closely to see if anything negative happens" He then turned to Hinata again "Do you want to go to the medic?" Hinata shook her head and then tried to stand up, Naruto instantly leaned down to help her, he put his arm around her waist and hoisted her up against his side "Can you stand?" he asked, concern evident in his eyes, Hinata looked down at the floor and tried to stand by herself, she was a bit shaky but found that she could "y-yes, thank you Naruto" she then smiled up at him and he grinned back. Shikamaru coughed to try and break up the grinning contest that was happening in front of him "shall we go?" Naruto and Hinata nodded, she took a step forward but her legs gave out from under her and she fell backwards and almost hot the ground but Naruto caught her in his strong arms before she did, Naruto laughed and Shikamaru even gave a light chuckle and Hinata blushed, then looked up at Naruto and laughed a sweet girlish laugh, Naruto grinned even more "See, isn't it better to just laugh?"

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Neji, Tenten, Ino and Kiba had just started traveling again after taking a lunch break, they were racing through the trees and were only four miles from the border to the next country. However, they had to pass through rogue country first. There were dangers in rogue country, dangers that needed to be heeded with caution.

"Ok, everyone we need to get some information here in rogue country, we'll split up into two groups and sweep the town to try and get anything we can on Akatsuki, and this is a criminal country so finding something shouldn't be too hard. Ok, Tenten, you come with me, Ino, you go with Kiba, meet at the final border in one hour." The group dissipated into their groups at Neji's command.

"Hey, let's try that bar first" Ino said as she dragged Kiba by his jacket sleeve into the said bar. "Wow. This place is a dump." Kiba whistled as he and Ino stepped into the dusty bar. Its occupants included a man that had close to about two teeth in his whole mouth and a walking stick, a dirty man with dirt all over his clothes and body and a bartender who proceeded to wipe down a glass that was beyond ever being clean. Ino lifted her nose slightly at the dwellers, Akamaru growled and Kiba moved a little closer to Ino with a protective hand placed on her lower back. Ino shifted slightly backwards into Kiba's hand, even she wasn't dumb enough to be vulnerable in places like this.

Finally Kiba moved them forward to the bar and leaned over it "hey, I got a few questions for you, if you don't mind" Kiba directed his attention to the bartender. The bartender grunted and put the glass down, then made his way over to Kiba "Yeah, what you want, if this is about that punk down the street, I had nothing to do with it!" the bartender raised his hands in a defensive pose "No, it's not" Kiba dismissed his little "admittance" and proceeded to speak "we were wandering if maybe you'd heard anything suspicious in relation to…Akatsuki" Kiba looked around before whispering 'Akatsuki' to the bartender, Ino stared the bartender down before he answered "l-look, I'm just a bartender, I don't know anything about nothing" the bartender tried to step away from Kiba and pretend he wasn't there but Kiba leaned over the bar and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him very close to his face "Listen here! Unless you want your legs cut off from your body and fed to Akamaru here, you better speak, because we know you know something! Got it?" Kiba's face was mere inches away from the bartenders and he could see the fear in his eyes. Ino acted disinterested in the situation and peered around the bar, taking I all of its members and noting anything suspicious "O-ok, well, sometimes, some guys come in here and they talk about Akatsuki, I haven't seen any of the actual Akatsuki before but they say that their secret "Fire Base", is what they called it, I don't know what that means, but they say that it's just on the border of the Fire country and that it's underground, also they were saying that it had tunnels leading to almost all the other country's borders. It sounded a bit farfetched to me, but maybe they were right…" Kiba smiled a mischievous smile and lowered the bartender from his grip and fixed his shirt up "Thank you, now, was that so hard?" the bartender shook his head profusely. Ino smiled at the bartender as well, and then the three left the bar.

"Well, that was fun." Kiba exclaimed as he put his arms behind his head and walked down the street "Ok, well, time flies when you're having fun, we need to meet at the final border in 15 minutes, so, let's go." Ino told him, and then poked him in the side "hey! You better watch it, or you'll get something you didn't wish for" Kiba growled playfully "Ooh, I'm so scared" Ino mock shivered and then Kiba stopped and looked at her, slowly crouching into a 'hunting' position "Ready Akamaru" the dog also lowered himself next the Kiba "K-Kiba, what are you doing?" Ino's voice was covered in confusion and fear "Giving you what you wished for" Ino's eyes widened and she started running down the street and an extremely fast pace, with Kiba and Akamaru just behind her "STOP!" Ino's screams filled the street as she ran. Kiba laughed as he ran, at the end of the street it broke off into a field, Ino quickly darted into the field and hoped she could make it into the trees at the other end and then finally the border, where Neji and Tenten would hopefully protect her from Kiba's wrath.

Halfway through the field, Ino's foot got clamped in something, she fell down and hit her head on a hard patch of ground. Kiba's face immediately lost all its playfulness and he ran straight to her. The sun was shining in her eyes, so she tried to cover her eyes but it was too bright. Kiba made it to Ino and leaned over her, effectively blocking the sun, "Are you alright Ino?" Ino looked up at Kiba and her stomach fluttered slightly "I am now" she smiled slightly and Kiba grinned at her "Where does it hurt?" Kiba looked her over to see if there was any blood "I hit my head really hard, and also I tripped over something, just help me up so I can take a look at my foot" Kiba put his arm behind her head and lifted her slowly. Looking at her foot, it had a cut going all the way around her ankle and a chakra infused wire wrapped around her entire ankle. "Ooh, that looks bad" Kiba observed, he then put his other arm under her legs and lifted her off the ground, "Kiba, I'm sure I can walk" Ino tried to defend herself "And I'm sure it will hurt like hell, so just sit back and enjoy the ride, Ino huffed but curled into Kiba anyway. "So, are you finally starting to see the awesomeness of my manly body?" Ino giggled and then slapped him softly on the chest "oh, yes definitely. No! Why would you think that?" Ino giggled again and then looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun "Because, when I asked you if you were alright…" Kiba looked forward into the trees "you said 'I am now'" Kiba put on a girly accent when he repeated Ino's line, Ino chuckled and curled into him more "Maybe I am starting to see the awesomeness of your 'manly' body" she chuckled lightly and then breathed into his chest, Kiba laughed and pulled her closer "Be a bit more careful next time…"

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Sakura had reached the border of the Fire country, but by this time it was already dark and she had started to set up a camp, she was lucky enough to find a clearing with a stream nearby, so she could wash off the days worries.

After setting out her mat and starting a fire she walked to the stream and stripped off all her clothes and climbed in. The water was cold on her heated skin. She wet her hair, and washed all the girt and grime off of her body, and then got out of the water and dried herself off. Putting her clothes back on, she went back to her camp.

As soon as she stepped through the trees into the glow of the fire, she knew something was wrong. She prepared herself for an attack and put a kunai into her hand. Taking her stance she screamed "Come out!" and then her eyes widened at what she saw…

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Yay! First chapter of my first story is finally ready. I had tons of fun writing this, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. It's probably not any good, considering it's my first story, but what the hell? We all have to start somewhere.

So enjoy! And Chapter 2 will be up soon.

TeinPein


	2. In the Winter, we cry

**In the Winter we fall…**

**: In the Winter, we cry…**

"He has escaped, Tsunade-sama" An ANBU guard was standing in front of Tsunade's desk while she stared at him. "What do you mean he's _escaped_?" the ANBU stood straight up and readied himself for his report. "At 01:00am this morning, one, Uchiha Sasuke, escaped the holdings of our ANBU guards and has, presumably, left Konoha Village. That is all." The ANBU waited for Tsunade to speak "well…WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?" Tsunade couldn't contain her anger "HE WAS IN AN ANBU FACILITY WITH ANBU GUARDS SURROUNDING HIM. HOW INCOMPETENT ARE YOU? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING WHILE HE ESCAPED?" the ANBU winced slightly at the Hokage's words, but she was in no mood to regret her tone. Shizune came rushing into the office "Tsunade-sama, orders?" Shizune watched as the Hokage tried to calm herself by gripping the edges of her desk. "Shizune, get all the remaining Jounin in the village, here. No, wait… Sakura is out there, and we need them here, incase of an attack… well… no! Just let it play out, I'm not risking an entire village because of one stupid Uchiha brat. Get a hawk to Sakura, inform her of the situation." Tsunade started rubbing her temple.

"Tsunade-sama, we don't know Sakura's location, it would be too hard for a hawk to find her. It would be a wasted hawk." Shizune lifted her clipboard to her chest, in a nervous gesture. Tsunade looked at Shizune and then at the ANBU "You are dismissed, ANBU." The ANBU nodded and disappeared. "Shizune, we're going to visit Kakashi" Shizune nodded and walked out of the door, with Tsunade following.

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Kakashi was sitting by the window when Tsunade and Shizune walked into his hospital room. "Any word on Sakura?" he asked almost urgently as he stood up from his chair. "No, not yet. Kakashi, we need to talk." Tsunade nodded to Shizune and she left the room, leaving Kakashi and Tsunade facing each other. "Kakashi, the situation has gotten much worse, Sasuke has escaped custody and we know that he's headed towards Itachi. You remember 2 years ago, when we'd captured him, and then told Sasuke that he had committed suicide before we could question him? You were there so you remember that we kept him alive under request from Haruno Sakura. That was 2 years ago. I don't know what she did with him when she escorted him out of the fire country, and surely you don't either. But it would seem that he is back with the Akatsuki, even after Sakura helped him. If we manage to capture him again, we cannot let him go. He must be terminated." Kakashi nodded, then he looked up "If Sasuke is headed towards Itachi, it's almost a definite that Sakura is going to be there, if he finds out even a little bit of Sakura's past with Itachi, we won't be able to stop him from hurting her. She's his friend but he will no doubt lose control and end up killing her. Tsunade-sama, we can't let that play out. We have to protect her, please, she's my student, I have to protect her." Tsunade stared into Kakashi's guilt ridden eyes and nodded "Yes, she's my apprentice, so I want to protect her too, but we don't know where she is, or where Sasuke is. We also can't let go of any of the Jounins because they have to be here incase of an attack on the village." Kakashi turned and stared out the window "I also thought about your request to go after her, but I can't let you go out in your condition, I'm sorry, but this village can't lose you" Tsunade stepped forward "so, at this point in time we are virtually… powerless." Kakashi said. "Yes, we are. I'm sorry Kakashi." With that Tsunade turned around and left the hospital room.

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Team 1 had made their way across 1/3 of the border and so far found no traces of Akatsuki. "Man, either Akatsuki is really good at hiding themselves, or there really isn't anything here…" Naruto huffed out as they reached another checking station. "Shikamaru, it's getting late, let's stop for the night. I'm tired, and I'm pretty sure Hinata's tired." Naruto looked next to him, to find that Hinata's eyes were drooping just slightly "Ok, Naruto, we'll stop just now, we'll find a clearing." Shikamaru called back to him." Naruto looked down at Hinata again, but this time he picked her up bridal style, and she squeaked. "N-Naruto! What are you doing?" Hinata blushed fiercely at the contact "Hinata, you look really tired, so I'm going to carry you until we reach the clearing." Naruto seemed very pleased with himself "I-it's fine, I-I can walk" Hinata tried to struggle out of his arms, but Naruto just squeezed her tighter. "Just relax, I'm here for you" Naruto looked down at her and grinned a very wide grin. Hinata just blushed and curled into him.

Shikamaru watched Naruto and Hinata out of the corner of his eye, then huffed, "If you guys are going to be getting so cozy, could you do it in a way that doesn't make me want to hurl?" he rolled his eyes and walked a little faster. Naruto laughed and then said "You're just jealous that you're not as cute as Hinata, so people don't want to pick you up." Naruto giggled at his own joke and Hinata blushed, she was in inner turmoil '_he thinks I'm cute?" _but she couldn't help but smile. Shikamaru rolled his eyes again and kept walking ahead.

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Neji, Tenten, Kiba and Ino had stopped at the border of the Sand. All of them wanting to rest the night before carrying on through the Sand Country into Suna. Kiba had told them the information they had gathered from the bartender and Ino had her ankle cleaned and stitched by Neji. Although Kiba sat with her the whole time asking 'are you ok?' and 'does it hurt?' until eventually Ino placed an attentive hand over his mouth so that he would stop talking. He just grabbed her hand between his and grinned at her. Ino smiled and leaned into his chest. The whole time her ankle was being stitched she sat in his arms and winced slightly when her skin was pulled too hard, he would squeeze her around her waist every time it hurt too much and she would sigh. Neji would look at them and roll his eyes, and then Tenten would giggle at his skepticism. Once Ino's foot had been completely stitched, she used her small knowledge of being a temp. medic to heal her skin a bit. Neji went to sit on his mat and read through the mission scrolls again, Tenten sat next to him, reading over his shoulder, and he didn't mind.

The two couples had gotten closer during their travels. Kiba and Ino. Neji and Tenten. It all worked out pretty well.

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Sakura's eyes widened at what she saw…

There stepping out of the trees was a big man with an even bigger sword wearing an Akatsuki cloak. Kisame. Sakura hissed at his entrance "What are you doing here Kisame?" she braced herself even more "Come now, Sakura, is that any way to treat your friend?" he chimed as he leaned against a tree "You are _not_ my friend!" Sakura was becoming more alert by the second. "What do you want?" Sakura swayed back and forth, trying to get a little momentum incase of an attack. Kisame spoke in a mischievous tone "Oh, we just wanted to drop in and say…" Sakura's eyes widened as she felt arms around her waist and a mouth at her ear "Good evening" the voice said. Sakura turned rigid in the grip and she tried to turn her head slightly to get a good look at the owner of the voice, even though she knew perfectly well who it was. Itachi.

"No, no, this isn't possible, you're dead. I watched you die in front of me." Sakura began to shake, her body had become sensitive and she could feel everywhere that made contact with his body. Her back up against his body and his arms around her waist, even his breath against her ear. "Aren't you happy to see that I'm alive?" Itachi mocked her in his monotone voice. "I-I don't know" with that Sakura fainted in his arms and he smirked the famous Uchiha smirk. "What now?" Kisame asked "We take her to my complex, I plan on having a little bit of fun with this one…" his smirk deepened as he dropped Sakura on the ground "Kisame, pick her up and bring her" the tall shark man rolled his eyes and growled softly "What was that Kisame?" Itachi asked from his position in a nearby branch "Oh, nothing, Itachi…nothing at all." Itachi looked down on him "Just as I thought."

Sakura awoke on a very hard floor in a room with sakura blossom wall paint and wooden floor boards. A Fusuma sliding door and another door leading onto a balcony. Past the balcony she could see a garden with Sakura trees and a small pond. She stood up and walked onto the balcony, looking at the beautiful garden and breathing in the air. She looked down at herself in the pond and noted that her clothes were different; she was wearing a dark blue Yukata with pink Sakura blossoms on the sleeves as well as a light pink obi. She was confused, and couldn't remember changing. Then she remembered Kisame and Itachi at her camp, and her mission. She stepped back into the room and closed the door, looking around she noticed that there wasn't any furniture in the room. She walked to the other side of the room and opened the Fusuma, in the other room; Itachi sat in a chair by a fire and held a glass of red wine in his hand. "Sakura, do come in." he gestured to a chair opposite him. Sakura walked slowly to the chair and sat down, staring at Itachi. "What is this? Where am I?" Sakura's emerald eyes glowed in the fire light and when Itachi turned and looked at her his eyes burned blood red and she couldn't look away. "What is this? This is all an illusion…" Itachi smirked and then everything went black for Sakura.

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Kakashi woke up at 3:00am in the morning to muffled cries and fast steps outside his hospital door, he got up and walked to the door, clad in his pajama pants. He slid his door open and saw a nurse running at full speed down the passage. "Hey! What's happened?" He asked the nurse, she stopped and said "It's terrible. Two young shinobi were trying to hold off an attach and got murdered in the process, The Hokage stopped the attack but the young shinobi didn't make it." She shook her head and hurried down the corridor. Kakashi ran back into his room, grabbed his shirt and took off to Hokage Tower.

"Shizune! Where's the Hokage?" Kakashi yelled at Shizune upon reaching her desk, she was shuffling through files and papers and just pointed towards the Hokage's door. Kakashi darted towards the door and bustled through it. "Tsunade-sama! Who died?" Tsunade looked up from her desk with a slightly tear streaked face "it was horrible Kakashi, there's going to be a funeral tomorrow for them…" Kakashi's eyes widened and he stuttered "wh-who was it?" Tsunade shook her head and replied "Lee and Iruka" Kakashi felt a stone drop in his chest "What!" he fell down onto his knees and started shaking while trying to hold back the tears. "Have you sent a hawk to Naruto and the others?" Tsunade nodded "I expect they're going to race home and not stop until they get here" Tsunade got out of her seat and went over to Kakashi "Kakashi, I know it's hard, but you have to be strong for when Naruto gets here" she bent down and pulled him up. He nodded and stood up straight "What can I do?" Tsunade gave him a solemn smile and said "Go tell Gai…"

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Naruto and the rest of his team had been racing all night to get back home to Konoha. After hearing that his Sensei Iruka and Lee had been killed he got up and raced through the forest with Hinata and Shikamaru close behind, it was a massive shock.

The came into contact with Neji's team a couple miles out of Konoha. Tenten had a tear streaked face, Neji was pulling her by the hand and Ino and Kiba were running side by side and holding hands. Ino had an equally tear streaked face.

The two teams raced into Konoha together and immediately headed to Hokage tower. When they reached the Hokage's office Gai and Kakashi were already inside, as well as Lee's family. Everyone was quiet and crying, Kakashi was standing at the far end of the office, against the wall. Naruto walked in and stood behind the group of people. The rest of the teams did the same. "I am very sorry for the loss of these two excellent shinobi. At the cost of their lives, however, the lives of many others were saved. It will be a very sad day and we all mourn. Lee and Iruka performed their jobs, right to the very end, and even though Lee was young, he was excellent." Soft tears ran down Naruto's face as he mourned the lost of his first real family. Ino was being held by Kiba and Tenten was being held by Neji. Tsunade announced the time of the funeral and then dismissed everyone. Kakashi lead Gai out of the office and all the family members, Shikamaru, Hinata and couples left as well. Naruto was the only one left in the office in the end. "Naruto, what is it?" Naruto looked up and walked over to the Hokage's desk. He banged his fist down and screamed "Why TSUNADE? Why did you let this happen?" Naruto was livid, his tears increased and he started to shake violently. Tsunade had a flashback of when Jiraiya had died and Naruto yelled at her "Naruto, I tried to save them, I tried!" Tsunade also had tears running down her face by this point. Naruto banged his fist again. The Hokage got up from her seat, walked around her desk and wrapped her arms around Naruto, he shook and cried and she held onto him. And they stayed like that for a while.

"Naruto, I think you should go home and have a rest." Naruto looked up from his position on the floor and got up. "You need to be fresh for the funeral" Naruto nodded and left the office. Tsunade sighed a tired sigh.

After the funeral it started to rain, everyone started making their way home, and the rain washed the tears from their faces. Naruto walked slowly down the street, until it was just him, by himself. He reached his apartment and then turned around.

At the sound of a knock at her door, Hinata got off her couch and walked to the door. She opened it and found a drenched Naruto with a happy grin on his face. "Na-Naruto? Do you need something?" Hinata looked worried and Naruto's grin wavered for just a moment "No, Hinata! I just came to check if you were ok! That's all! Ok, well, you're ok, so I'm just going to go now… bye Hinata." Naruto turned around and headed into the street but before he could make too far Hinata grabbed his arm and tugged him backwards and into her arms. It was a bold move for Hinata, but she could see that he needed comforting after all he'd been through. Naruto, who was taller that Hinata pulled his arms around her should while she, had her arms around his waist and they just stood like that. Naruto cried and Hinata cried, but they cried together.

As the rain got worse and a storm sounded, Naruto found himself on Hinata's couch with her in between his legs and his arms wrapped around her. He found himself in this position a lot lately. But he liked it; Hinata was a small piece of him that was missing. It was nice to have that piece.

Hinata was emotionally drained from crying so much and being in Naruto's arms felt like the support she needed. So she cuddled into him and then looked up, he looked down at her, and into her eyes and something sparked. Hinata couldn't help but gasp and Naruto bent down and gave her a chaste kiss. Hinata started to cry again, tears of joy.

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**End of Autumn**

Sasuke had been wondering through the trees for months. He hadn't been back to Konoha since he escaped the ANBU and he was probably considered a traitor. Along his travels he had done a few odd jobs to get money to pay people off for information on the whereabouts of Uchiha Itachi. So far, he had found out a few things, but nothing concrete yet.

He had found out, however, that he had a pink haired kunoichi with him. He wasn't a fool, there was only ONE pink haired kunoichi with any relation to him… Haruno Sakura.

It was the end of Autumn, going into Winter and the leaves on the trees had long fallen off, he hadn't seen a flower in ages. But it didn't bother him, he only had one thing in his head, and that was… to kill Uchiha Itachi.

He was coming very close, he could feel it. It would only be a few more weeks before he came into contact with them, unfortunately the more he traveled and got clues, the close he got to Konoha.

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**Winter**

Sakura woke up, in her warm bed in the underground complex. With the arms of one, Uchiha Itachi, wrapped around her. It had started to get cold so snuggling up with a warm fire had been a constant factor in her life for the past few months. She couldn't say her life was peaceful, but she couldn't that it had been overly dangerous either. She had gotten over the fact that she would never be allowed into Konoha again, and just enjoyed being a 'captive' of Itachi's. When they traveled she had to walk silently behind Itachi to make it look like she really was under his control. But as soon as they got into the complex she roamed around freely and enjoyed the attention she got from Itachi.

She had taught herself over these past few months to feel nothing towards her old friends; she had become… the enemy. It didn't really bother her…not really. Well, it didn't bother her when she was around Itachi, but when she found herself alone, she would cry.

In the Winter, we fall…

In the Winter, we cry…

She'd take walks into the forest, and lie in the snow, with Itachi's Akatsuki cloak on, and she'd cry. She'd cry until her body ached and she had no more tears left. She didn't think Itachi knew… because when she'd get back into bed with him and they'd make love, he showed no indication that he knew.

But he did.

The story of Sakura's past with Itachi wasn't very complicated, not to outsiders, but to Sakura, who had all her emotions invested in the situation it was very complicated.

"_Sasuke! Stop! Please, it doesn't have to be like this!" Sakura's screams filled the Winter night air. 17 year old Sakura who was wrapped up in a shinobi jacket and had cuts and abrasion all over her young body, was crawling and stumbling through the snow, towards the back of Uchiha Sasuke. The fight they had had tore her to pieces because she refused to fight back, she let him cut and slice her skin and she only cried softly as the pain hit her at every turn. But it still seemed that Uchiha Sasuke felt nothing. "Sasuke!" was her final word and he turned around and shot his chakra infused katana into her chest. She coughed up blood and he removed the katana. His eyes were masked, masked with nothingness and he flicked the blood from his katana and tainted the snow._

_He left her lying, dying in the snow as he walked away. When she felt warm hands wrap around her waist and slowly pick her up, she thought it was an angel, when she wrapped her arms around the angle's back she thought he was taking her up, up into the beyond. And when he spoke to her she thought everything was going to be ok._

"_You're not allowed to die, Sakura."_

Sakura thought about that night as Itachi ran soft kisses along her body. Kissing her neck and running his hands along her body, memorizing ever curve. She moved into his touches and moaned as he pulled her body close to his. Feeling skin on skin. He moved up her body until his lips were hovering just above hers, she opened her eyes and looked into burning red Sharingan. He closed the space between them with a searing kiss that stopped her thought pattern. He then pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear. "I told you, you weren't allowed to die." And her breath caught.

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Naruto woke up to white eyes piercing through him. He smiled and sleepily rubbed his eyes "Good morning." Hinata smiled and nuzzled his chest while pulling the covers over their bodies. "Good morning" she replied. Naruto laughed and said "Cold?" Hinata shivered and moved closer to him "Freezing." Naruto wrapped him arms around her and pulled himself over so that he was on top of her, but holding himself up with a hand on each side of her head "Let's fix that" he said before diving down and capturing her lips and rubbing his body along hers. Hinata giggled but broke the kiss "Naruto, we c-can't. We have a meeting with-Aah!" Hinata yelped as Naruto bit down on her shoulder. "No, no, no… we're not going anywhere until you're warm" Naruto replied mischievously from his position biting and sucking her neck and ear lobe. Hinata started to shiver from his touches, but managed to centre her mind and put her hands on his chest and push him up. Naruto looked at her with wide puppy-dog eyes but she didn't give in. "Naruto we are going to that meeting. You can 'warm me up' later, now get dressed, I'm going to have a quick shower" Naruto perked up a bit "You want some company?" Hinata glared at him "No thank you." Naruto collapsed onto the bed once she had moved away from underneath him, taking the sheets with her. The blonde sat back and put his arms behind his head and sighed. His relationship with Hinata escalated a couple months ago and now they were living together.

He hadn't seen Sasuke for months and still wanted to go out after him, but the Hokage banned him from pursuing any of his two best friends. Sasuke had gone off after Itachi and Sakura still hadn't been heard from since she left all those months ago for her own mission. After Lee and Iruka's funeral neither of the teams was put back onto their missions, which was better since Konoha needed to be protected, from frequent attacks on the Hokage and the village itself. Those missions had brought many people together, Kiba and Ino were already engaged and Neji and Tenten were an item. Shikamaru seemed to be getting close to Temari whenever she visited to help out the village, which was _very_ often…

Mostly, everyone was fine. Except, Naruto, who was feeling the absence of his best friends weighing down on him more than others. Thinking about it now, Kakashi was also taking it hard. He wasn't the same and whenever Naruto saw him he was either standing by the memorial stone or by the Konoha gates, presumably, waiting for Sakura. Naruto knew that he felt guilty about letting Sakura go alone, and he worried himself into a stupor wondering if she was alive or not. But there was nothing he could do. Kurenai tried to cheer him up by asking him if he'd like to play/train with her daughter, and he accepted her offer and started training the little four year old girl to be his little apprentice, obviously going easy on her. He had also stopped going on missions too much so that he could play with his apprentice. When Shikamaru wasn't watching over her, Kakashi had the honour, and that made him happy for a few hours. Naruto felt helpless.

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Ino woke up that morning to a sleeping mass of a man and a dog at her feet. She was stretched across Kiba's bare stomach and had only woken up because she felt the cold Winter air on her skin, she often found herself waking up to her fiancé stretched out underneath her and sleeping, his handsome face so peaceful as he dreamed. Ino smiled pulled the blankets over naked form, Kiba shifted slightly and brought her closer, she giggled and poked him in the chest, when he didn't wake up she climbed on top of him and brought her face right down about one centimeters away from his, when he still didn't wake up from her presence she kissed him softly, and ran her tongue over his bottom lip, this time he didn't open his eyes but he kissed her back, passionately as ever. He finally cracked his eyes open and looked into her solid blue and smiled into the kiss. He brought his hands up under the covers and gripped her hips and dragged her up his body and closer to his lips. She giggled again and deepened the kiss. Akamaru had gotten sick of their antics and rolled off the bed and out the door. Before they could get too carried away Ino pulled out of the kiss and smiled "Kiba, I'm just waking you up to tell you that we have a meeting with Tsunade…" Kiba smiled at her "Well, if that's how you wake me up when we've got a meeting, then I wish we had a meeting everyday." He grinned and sat up with Ino in his lap and facing him. "Come on, let's take a shower before we go, I'm still a bit dirty from last night" Ino grinned at Kiba and he wrapped and strong arms around her and got up and off the bed. Ino kissed him again and he carried them into the bathroom for their 'shower'.

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Neji had already been awake for a few hours and was meditating in the garden of his Hyuuga mansion. Tenten stepped out from his room and into the cold air of Winter. Holding herself and wrapping Neji's jersey around herself as she skipped towards him. Neji sensed her coming and looked up as she stood behind him "Good morning" he said in a calm voice "Good morning yourself" she chimed. He smiled up at her and faced forward again; Tenten walked round and sat down in front of him, knee to knee. "Is there something wrong?" Neji asked as he observed her face and the way she was chewing her thumb "I was just lying in bed thinking about how long Sakura has been gone, and I wondered if she was ok. Then I got up because I felt lonely, and here I am" Neji's features softened and he motioned for her to come closer. She obliged and climbed into his lap sideways. "Any time you feel lonely, you come to me, ok?" Tenten nodded and kissed him chastely on the lips. "We have a meeting with the Hokage in a little while, so we better get ready" Neji told her "Already? How long do we have?" Tenten asked with a mischievous smile "about half an hour" Neji replied calmly "Good, that's long enough" Tenten replied with a sly grin. Neji lifted an eyebrow and then smiled. Tenten giggled as he stood up with her in tow and walked back into his room and shut the door.

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Tsunade was sitting at her desk with a steaming cup of coffee and a blanket wrapped around her feet. She absolutely hated Winter, and it didn't help that she had a cold either. Shizune would frequently walk into her office with a cheery smile and a comment about how gorgeous Winter was and each time she would throw a paper weight at her and tell her to leave and come back with the right attitude. After being told to leave Shizune would come back into the office with a look of disinterest and a mask over her mouth to protect herself from Tsunade's cold. Tsunade would then ask for her report.

"Shizune! Report!" Tsunade sneezed and Shizune took a step back "All the people that you asked to meet here have been called and still no word from Uchiha Sasuke or Haruno Sakura. Also, we have a lead that tells us that Uchiha Sasuke will come into contact with Uchiha Itachi in a few days – minimum, weeks – maximum" Tsunade nodded "When will the people be here?" Tsunade ruffled a paper from under a large pile and sneezed again "Some of them are already heading up and others are on their way." Shizune ticked something off her clipboard and then looked up gravely "Also, Tsunade-sama, it has come to my attention that today would have been Haruno Sakura's birthday. It's not a matter of extreme importance, but it might mean something to those close to her" Tsunade looked up from her sheet of paper and wiped one of her eyes "Yes, ok, Shizune. Tell Kakashi when he gets here to stay once everyone has left." Shizune nodded and wrote on her clipboard. She then turned around and left. Tsunade wiped her red nose with a tissue and then sneezed for a third time that morning.

A knock on her door, informed Tsunade that her meeting was about to start. "Come in" she said. Through the door came Naruto and Hinata, Ino and Kiba, Neji and Tenten and lastly Kakashi.

"Everyone, I have called you here today, to inform you that we are hereby canceling any mission with relations to Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. They have been considered missing-nin for too long, and have evaded any shinobi that try to find them. They will be presumed dead and have an honorary funeral to show admiration towards their work as Konoha Shinobi, is this understood?"

The shocked eyes of seven shinobi locked onto her and she could feel the disbelief emanating from all of them. Naruto, as always, was the first to cut the silence "What the hell are you talking about? They're not _dead_! I know they're not!" Naruto was fuming and Hinata had to grab his hand to hold him in his place. "Naruto, we have to abide by the word of the Hokage" Kakashi said in a monotonous voice "The hell I do! I won't let some old hag decide for me that my best friends are dead! Why are you giving up so easily?" He turned and walked over to Kakashi and stared him down, waiting for a decent reply "I'm not giving up, I just think that after all this time, we all deserve some closure, that's all" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing "We didn't give up on Sasuke for years and you're ready to give up on both of them after a few _months_?" Naruto had walked back to Hinata and was now staring at Tsunade, demanding a reply. "Naruto, when Sasuke was gone, we had proof that he was alive because of our spies, this time we have absolutely no word from either of them" Tsunade lied, she and Shizune and Kakashi knew that Sasuke and Itachi were going to come into contact, but she wanted to make it easier on his friends, as for Sakura, she had no proof of it, but because of her history, she was almost certain that she was with Itachi. It was all too hard for their friends, and especially for Naruto.

Naruto disintegrated, his anger dissipated and one single tear ran down his cheek. Hinata brought her hand up and wiped the tear from his face. Tsunade rubbed her hands together and sighed "I'm sorry, but we can't keep sending teams out when we need them here, we have no proof. I'm so sorry, the funeral will be tomorrow" Tsunade looked at all of them and they all nodded back. "Furthermore…" she took in a deep breath and pushed it out before speaking again "today was Haruno Sakura's birthday." Hinata and Ino closed their eyes and turned into their loved one while everyone else breathed in very slowly; Naruto's tears grew stronger as they slid down his face. Kakashi looked at Tsunade and she looked back at him "I thought you would all like to know that today Haruno Sakura would have turned 20 years old, and you might want to celebrate the life she has lived." Tsunade wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and then spoke again "You're all dismissed." The room emptied, except for Kakashi. "Kakashi, We're going to have to send some people out to collect any bodies once the contact has been made, they need to know, however, that they mustn't in any way, interfere in the fight." Kakashi nodded "I will prepare a team to go in a few days." Tsunade nodded again "Alright, dismissed!"

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Sakura was sitting against a tree in the forest near the complex while Itachi trained. "Itachi, don't you think you should put a shirt on, you're going to get sick, seriously" Itachi just turned around and gave her an incredulous smirk "You can keep me warm when I'm finished and I'll be fine" Sakura rolled her eyes and got up off the ground. Itachi walked over to her and pushed her up against the tree, his cold skin against her made her shiver; she could still feel his coldness through the Akatsuki cloak of his that she often vacated. "Will you keep me warm, Sakura?" He asked as he kissed her neck just below her ear "No, I don't think I will, why don't you ask Kisame?" she snapped back, still feeling irritated that he didn't listen to her medical advice, and was now trying to soften her up so that she would 'warm' him up. In the end she gave in every time, but it was still worth the effort to disobey him "But I don't want Kisame, I want _you_" he emphasized the 'you' as he bit down on her neck, leaving a mark. "Well, that's just too bad, because, right now, I don't want _you_" She stressed the 'you' and pushed him off her neck. She then rubbed her hands together and blew into them, upon looking up, she noted that Itachi wasn't standing in front of her anymore. She huffed and started walking back to the complex "You can be so immature sometimes, when you decide to come out again, we'll talk" she trudged in the snow with her thick snow boots, while still blowing into her hands. As she reached the outside door to the complex she felt her mind slipping backwards and as she turned around she saw the image of when Itachi brought her back to this complex 3 years prior.

_Sakura's cut up body was covered in bandages and Itachi was lying under her in the bed and rubbing her head as she moaned from the pain. "I-Itachi…" He leaned down and rubbed her forehead before pulling her face up and making her focus on his eyes, She immediately lost consciousness. This was better for her, so that she wouldn't be in too much pain. Itachi removed himself from under her and sat in the chair beside the bed. "I'll never forgive him… That is not the man I wanted Sasuke to become. Leaving a woman wounded like that in the snow. She's too fragile to be broken by him so many times."_

Itachi's words shocked Sakura as she watched the scene unfold before her_._

_Itachi leaned forward and brushed his lips over the unconscious Sakura "You're not allowed to die, Sakura" he left those words on her lips and left the room_

Sakura was pulled back to reality and Itachi was standing behind her, she turned around and looked at him dead in the eye "I don't remember that, Itachi" she said to him "You were unconscious, also I didn't want you to remember the pain, so I made you forget" Sakura's eyes softened as she noticed that he had put a shirt on "Itachi…" she smiled slightly at him and moved forward and wrapped her arms around his chest and snuggled into his chest, that was slowly warming up. "So now you want me?" Itachi asked with a smirk "I always did, you just get on my nerves when you don't listen to me" Itachi's smirk extended as he kissed her on the head "Since when are you in charge?" Sakura giggled and leaned on her toes to kiss him. He kissed her back and opened the outside door before lifting her and walking inside, with a smiling Sakura in his arms.

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Naruto had planned a gathering at the local pub, a small gathering of Sakura's closest friends, basically the group that she had lived and partied with in her years. He invited Kakashi, Genma, Ino, Kiba, Neji, Hinata, Tenten, Kankuro, Gaara, Temari, Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji, Sai, Shizune and Tsunade. They were going to drink all the drinks that she loved, do all the things she loved to do while partying and most of all, talk about all the things in her life that she'd done.

The night went on, and everyone laughed and drank, it was morning already and everyone was still in the pub talking about all the things she did. All in all, she would have loved it if she were there with them.

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One week had past since she saw the flashback from 3 years ago. After that her and Itachi had spent the whole night in bed, and she had felt things that he had never made her feel before. Last week, and the day of the flashback was her birthday, she was officially 20. Although, she didn't feel much different. She could say that she was happy, but she could also feel that her happiness was going to come to an end in a couple days. Or weeks.

Itachi had been out with Kisame for 2 days and so Sakura had to stay inside of the complex, she knew the drill. She basically just stayed in their room and read, sometimes medical books, sometimes history books. On this day, however she was feeling sick, so she spent most of her time on the bathroom floor. It didn't feel like a cold, but it could be flu. She wasn't sure. She was however sure, that she wasn't moving anytime soon.

By the time Itachi and Kisame got back to the complex later that day, he found Sakura on the bathroom floor with a towel wrapped around her. He leaned down in front of her and asked "What's wrong?" Sakura looked up at him and shivered "I think I'm sick, but I can't be sure" she laughed a small laugh and looked at him. Even though he was very unemotional he had a slight tinge of concern in his eyes. Sakura smiled. He lifted her off the bathroom floor and took her to their room, placed her on the bed and felt her forehead. "You seem fine" He said "I feel fine, I'm just very nauseous" Itachi nodded and sat up. "Ok, I'm taking you to the local medic" Sakura's eyes widened, they never went into town, only him and Kisame went to fetch food. "No! It's fine, I'll be fine, it's probably just a cold" Sakura laughed a nervous laugh and looked up at him pleadingly. "Fine. But if it gets worse, I'm taking you." Sakura nodded slowly. Itachi kissed her on the forehead and then left the room.

Sakura's mind raced over all the possibilities and kept going over one in particular…

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Second chapter up and about. I hope you enjoyed. Again, let me remind you that this is my first story on here, so it's bound to be bad. Anyway…

TeinePein


	3. In the Winter, we end

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or any of the Characters in this story.

**In the Winter, we fall:**

**In the Winter, we end…**

**Winter**

When Itachi got to bed that night, Sakura was lying under the covers in his mesh shirt and watched him as he got under the covers and the pulled her close with one arm. "Itachi?" she asked innocently "Hn?" he questioned as he looked down at her "I have to tell you something" Itachi was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow at this point "Yes?" Sakura blinked a few times, and then breathed in; preparing herself for his reaction "I'm pregnant."

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

"You're what?"

"Pregnant"

"Is that so?"

"Yes"

Sakura winced at his lack of emotion, and Itachi sat up in the bed and looked down at her. She looked up at him and waited for a reply. Instead of replying Itachi pulled her into his lap, with her facing him and pulled her close. He then nuzzled her chest as he thought about what she'd said. "Itachi? Are you alright?" Itachi lifted his head and looked up at her before saying "I'm so glad you didn't die…" Sakura's eyes widened and glistened as they filled with tears of joy. She hugged him tightly as he nuzzled her. Itachi would never admit it, but all he wanted to do was hold the mother of his child, hold her tight and never let her go…

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Sasuke breathed in the cold night air. He's finally found Itachi, he couldn't be sure, but it seemed that he and Sakura were living in the complex alone. He would drive them out of it and into the clearing that he had prepared. Once there he would kill his murderous brother and the backstabbing little kunoichi. Too many times has he been hurt to let this fly by. This is the Winter where…they end.

His body tingled at the thought of running his katana through his brother while his beloved kunoichi watched, and then just before Itachi dies, making him watch as he does the same to her. They deserve to feel pain, after everything, they deserve to have their worlds ripped inside out as they watch everyone they love…die.

A crazed laugh filled the night air as Sasuke replayed the scene over and over in his mind. It was too beautiful for words. To see their faces as the light leaves their eyes. Beautiful.

Sasuke had been gone so long and been consumed by his hatred for so long, that his mind was slipping. He'd become a machine, a crazy machine, focused on nothing but killing Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura.

He remembered that night, the night that he passed his katana through Sakura because she'd tried to stop him with _words_. He was in a daze and the katana went through her chest with such ease. It was like taking candy from a baby. While he cut her and sliced her, she didn't even make the tiniest effort to fight back, so he cut her more and more until she was so bloody, it was ridiculous. And the last thing she said to him was 'Sasuke!' and he heard the sound of katana on flesh. The thought of it made him grin. That night he went out to find Itachi, but only found her. She had been 'kidnapped' or so she said. And he found her, waiting for him, in a clearing, in Itachi's coat. It drove him insane.

Only later, when he returned to Konoha and found her in the hospital attached to machines and a breathing monitor, after she was dropped off at the gates 'anonymously', did he regain composure, he knew, the whole time, what was going on between them, and even when she tried to tell him that she really was kidnapped, he chose to believe his story. She went to him willingly and they were conspiring against him!

Naruto told him that he'd lost his mind. He agreed but still thought his theory was right. It turned out later on that she really was kidnapped, and he attacked her for no reason. He felt a twinge of guilt for cutting her up, but that passed quickly and indifference took over. She forgave him and told him that she was just happy he was home, with his friends. He drifted through the years, indifferently. Itachi got captured by the ANBU and he got told that he committed suicide before talking and he acted like he believed them, but he knew the truth, and he never looked a Sakura again. She's spared him. Saved him, even. And she still acted like his friend 2 years after that.

When the word of Itachi's reappearance got to him, he prepared himself for what was coming. The ANBU facility was easy to get out of, and he made it out unnoticed, of course they noticed in the morning that he was gone. Stupid Hokage. He played the right amount of shock into his voice when she told him that Itachi was back. No one even knew that Sasuke knew…_everything._

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"Naruto? Are you awake?" Hinata prodded the blonde's muscular back with her finger "Hmm… no…" Hinata huffed and poked her finger a little more forcefully into his back, Naruto jumped up and rubbed his back profusely "Geez! Hinata! That hurt, what's so important at four in the morning" Hinata looked at him innocently "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, but, I need to tell you something…" Hinata sat in Naruto's lap and reached behind him to rub where she poked him. "It's ok, what's wrong?" Hinata rolled off him and sat a little further away from him. Naruto looked at her with sleepy eyes and waited. "Naruto… we're going to have a baby…" Hinata looked down at the bed sheets as she waited for Naruto's response. When she looked up Naruto was grinning uncontrollably. Hinata smiled at him. "You mean that there's a little Naruto, inside you, right now!" Hinata giggled and nodded. Naruto jumped up and pulled Hinata up as well, before kneeling down in front of her and speaking to her stomach "Hello little Naruto, I'm your daddy…" Naruto looked up at Hinata and found that she was smiling serenely at him; she lifted her hand and put it into his hand, and with the other hand stroked his cheek. Just then Naruto stood up and gave her a kiss before running out of his back door onto the balcony and screaming "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" Hinata giggled at his response and followed him outside. Naruto turned around after wolf whistling and hugged her gently, she snuggled him. "Hinata, we're going to have a baby…"

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Tsunade yawned loudly as Shizune brought her a cup of coffee and a stack of papers. "Shizune, do you have to bring me this stuff so early in the morning?" Shizune shook her head and replied "Tsunade-sama, it's already eleven O'clock." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her "Exactly." Shizune laughed and handed her a stamp. "Tsunade-sama, Naruto and Hinata are here to see you and Kakashi is also here, shall I send them all in?" Tsunade looked at her "Why is Naruto here?" Shizune shrugged and opened the door. Naruto burst in with Hinata being dragged in close behind. "Yes Naruto? What is it?" Naruto grinned and looked at Hinata, who nodded. "Old hag, you're going to be a granny!" Tsunade's shocked expression made Shizune burst into a fit of giggles and as Kakashi came in and saw her face, he also gave small laugh. "Well, good to see you're having a fine day, Hokage-sama" Kakashi chirped. Tsunade, only just recovering from her shock, glared at Naruto "What on Earth are you talking about, Naruto?" Naruto chuckled and then spoke "Hinata and I are having a baby, and because I don't have any parents, I want you to be our baby's granny." Naruto was too pleased with himself to notice Tsunade's face go pale. "Congratulations you two" Kakashi and Shizune said at once. "Well? What do you say Granny-Tsunade?" Naruto chortled. Tsunade finally spoke "Wow. Naruto…I don't if I should be happy about the offer or sad that you're having a baby so young…" Naruto looked at her seriously "Think about this, I'm considering Jiraiya as our baby's granddad. I'm hoping you'll accept because we don't want anyone else." Naruto smiled a small smile, and that's when Tsunade melted and let out a large grin "Fine… you win." At that Naruto jumped around Tsunade's desk and hugged her, she hugged him back softly "Thank you…" Naruto whispered. "Don't worry Kakashi; we haven't forgotten about you, we want you to be the Godfather, so you must name the baby, just as Jiraiya named me." Kakashi smiled and nodded.

After Naruto and Hinata left Kakashi plopped into a chair opposite Tsunade's desk and smiled underneath his mask. "So Granny-Tsunade…er…Hokage's-sama…" Kakashi laughed nervously at his 'slip of the tongue' Tsunade rubbed her temples. "Kakashi, have you set up the team?" Kakashi's face turned serious and he nodded. "Good. They have to do it cleanly and make sure there isn't any trace of the bodies." Kakashi's face was very grave "If there is a chance of saving Sakura, are they allowed to jump in?" Kakashi's voice was almost pleading. Tsunade shook her head slowly "No, I don't want any interference from our shinobi, this has to sort itself out, do you understand?" Kakashi looked her in the eyes and nodded "Yes, Hokage-sama"

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Ino and Kiba sat in the snow in a training field and Kiba stroked Ino's hair as she lay with her head in his lap. "Kiba…" Kiba looked down into Ino's eyes "Yeah?" Ino smiled up at him "I miss Sakura…" Kiba pulled Ino up into a sitting position in his lap and pulled his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back into his shoulder and silently cried. Kiba kept her against his chest while she cried and kissed her neck comfortingly. Ino turned around in his grip and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Kiba smiled a sad smile as his fiancée noiselessly wept about the loss of her best friend.

Ino thought about all the times her and Sakura had fought about who Sasuke liked the most, how they pulled each other's hair and called each other names. How her and Sakura would go out for drinks and dance all night. She cried tears of joy into Kiba's neck as she remembered everything, and then she cried tears of sadness as she realized that she would never talk to Sakura again.

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Tenten giggled as Neji rubbed his cheek against her stomach. She then moaned as he rubbed his hands over her pliable skin, those strong, shinobi hands. After a long night with Neji, Tenten's skin was still on fire as he lay with her in his bed. She smiled down at him as he moved his way up her body until finally he reached her mouth and kissed her fervently. The he was gone and she groaned at his absence… she opened her eyes to find him staring down at her, her hair spread wildly over his pillow and her eyes sparkling with need. "Tenten, I'm going to ask you something now…ok?" Tenten's eyes widened and she nodded "Will you marry me?" Tenten sat up fast and swung her arms around his neck while yelping "Yes! Yes!" Neji laughed a quiet laugh and slipped something onto her finger. Tenten looked at the ring and gasped, it wasn't big but wasn't small, and it was absolutely beautiful. "Oh Neji! It's beautiful!" Tenten grinned and Neji lay her back down and pulled the blankets over them. Tenten giggled.

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Sakura wok up the following morning with a gurgling stomach and a need for orange's and ham. The thought alone made her nauseous, but she wanted it. She rolled over onto her side and rolled off the bed. On the floor next to the bed was Itachi's mesh shirt that she had previously been wearing and her snow boots. She dressed herself and walked to the kitchen. She started digging through the cupboards and found an orange, but no ham. She groaned at the thought of eating an orange but no ham. So she went to the outside door and opened to find what she was looking for, Itachi was sitting on a platform and meditating. "Sakura, go back inside, you're going to get sick, and we don't want that." Itachi's voice was calm, Sakura pouted as she called back to him "There's no ham! I want ham!" her pout got bigger as she noted that Itachi hadn't moved, she was just about to call out again when she felt an arm around her and a voice at her ear "You have to say please if you want something" Sakura looked at the platform and found it empty, damn he was fast. "Sorry, I want some ham with my orange, please could you get me some" she looked up at him with puppy dog eyes and he smirked at her. She widened her eyes for more of an affect, even though she knew that it never worked on him. "Sakura, there's ham in the fridge." Sakura's face lightened up as she left his arms and raced to the kitchen. Itachi laughed lightly and followed her.

When he reached the kitchen Sakura was already munching on the orange and stuffing pieces of ham into her mouth. Itachi leaned against the door frame and watched her "What?" I'm hungry" Sakura defended herself with a piece of ham just centimeters from her lips. Itachi sighed and sat down at the table opposite her. "I suppose that what I should expect from a pregnant woman." Sakura looked at him and then said "It's your fault you know…" Itachi glared at her and then sighed "I suppose you're right" Sakura smiled at his admission.

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Sasuke sat and watched the interaction between Itachi and Sakura while he meditated and she stepped out of the door wearing nothing but boots and very transparent mesh shirt. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it infuriated him to see her there with him. He would never forgive them. Sakura wasn't meant to be so happy with _Itachi_. She was supposed to be fawning over him. It was the way it was supposed to be.

Sasuke's plans were all set for him to lure them into the clearing, exactly 27.5 kilometers from Konoha. Everything was ready. Ready for the end.

He jumped to another tree branch and threw a kunai with a note attached at the door.

He then left and raced towards the clearing.

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A thud at the door caught Sakura's attention and she looked at Itachi. Itachi looked at her dead on and said "That's Sasuke, he's been out there since last night" sakura gasped and put her food down. "What do you think he wants?" Itachi looked at her and said "It's just a note" Sakura breathed in slowly "I'm pretty sure he wants to fight." Sakura started to shake in her chair, then she stood up and walked towards their bedroom, Itachi just watched her.

In the room, Sakura rushed to their cupboard and grabbed her plain black pants and long sleeve shirt; she then put her snow boots on and tucked the pants into them. The mesh shirt got thrown onto the bed. She grabbed Itachi's spare Akatsuki cloak and ran out into the kitchen. Itachi was standing next to the door frame and she ran to him and embraced him. He took the Akatsuki cloak from her hands and wrapped it around her. She smiled a sad smile up at him and kissed him chastely on the lips. "Shall we go?" Itachi asked. Sakura nodded and they headed to the door.

After reading the note, they headed in the directions given. For this Itachi brought his katana. He knew that the fight between Sasuke and him was going to be hard. Over time he had come to learn that his younger brother had, indeed, lost his mind with hatred and a hunger for power.

Sakura and Itachi were a few kilometers from the clearing that they had been instructed to head towards. Sakura was very nervous and very nauseous. At this point she deduced that she was a few weeks pregnant…maybe.

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Sasuke could feel them getting closer. He took off his winter jacket, now wearing only his long black pants, sandals and an ice cold glare. He gripped the katana on his back and unsheathed it. Putting himself into a calm fighting pose. He was ready.

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Itachi and Sakura stopped on the fringes of the clearing; they could see Sasuke standing in the middle, with a katana. Itachi unsheathed his own katana and stepped forward, Sakura stepped forward with him. He then turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and brought a kiss down on her frozen lips, she kissed him back passionately. Then he kneeled down and placed a kiss on her abdomen, whispering something unintelligible. Sakura stroked his hair, and then he was gone and standing in front of Sasuke, katana at the ready. A single tear streaked Sakura's cheek.

Sasuke's left foot shifted slightly and Itachi repeated his action with his right foot. All the while staring each other dead in the eyes. Sharingan to Sharingan. Then a sharp sound filled the icy winter air. Sakura blinked to find Itachi's katana connected at the blade to Sasuke's katana. She gasped as they backed away, readying themselves for another attack. She started to shake and cry, it was killing her to watch them fight. She didn't want this, she had to stop it.

Itachi steady his feet and prepared to attack, running forward at an alarming pace. Sasuke saw Itachi charging and raced forward to assault. Katana pointed in the direction of the other's heart, and then the sound of flesh on steel filled the air.

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The wind blew through the trees, rustling the branches and dropping snow to the ground. A dim haze of icy mist waved through the branches and any traces of footsteps were lost as a fresh coat of snow covered the area. A slight drizzle of snowflakes ran down to earth and the midday's winter sun glowed dimly on the flakes.

In a clearing, exactly 27.5 kilometers from the hidden village of Konoha., red brushes of blood tainted a pure white snow, and three figures lay, cold and still as snowflakes descended on their skin.

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In between, one, Uchiha Itachi and, one, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura lay with open eyes, a dim emerald with no gleam or shine and one glacial tear on her pallid cheek. Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke had their eyes closed and neither one had a single emotion nor expression on their icy exteriors. The only outer connection the three had was Haruno Sakura holding the right hand of Uchiha Itachi and the left hand of Uchiha Sasuke. In Uchiha Itachi's left hand was a katana with blood frozen to the blade and in Uchiha Sasuke's right hand lay another katana with a similar distinction. Blood seeped from Uchiha Itachi's heart as well as Sasuke's. Haruno Sakura, however, had two seeping wounds. Each wound created by each Uchiha.

Haruno Sakura's connection to Itachi and Sasuke was deeper than any cut from a blade. A seeping hole made more apparent by a sword in each Uchiha, a wound only visible after being slashed, but a wound that was always there, even before the katana penetrated either of their hearts. Sakura was wounded the most by this bond, as her fragile heart was always loving and giving, and received all the pain and marring with the utmost of fervor. In the end, however, Sakura was left with two wounds, one from each man.

You may think that Sakura placed her hands in union with the Uchiha men, but, in fact it was the Uchiha men, both feeling painfully connected and loving towards her, that placed their hands in hers.

Sasuke died thinking of the life he could have had if his family were alive. Itachi died thinking of the life he could have had if he hadn't murdered his family. And Sakura died thinking of the life she would have had with Itachi and their unborn child.

Four lives were taken on a cold day in winter, within a clearing 27.5 kilometers from Konoha village. Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Haruno Sakura and the unborn child of a loving mother and altruistic man.

And in the Winter, they end.

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The End

Ok, so it's the last chapter of my first story. I hope you all enjoyed it so far. Please review, if you can. ^^

TeinePein


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